a long way down the track

Phew, this is a long post!But then it was a long trip. And once you have viewed all the pictures you can congratulate yourself that you have traveled most of the length of the north island(because who knows about anything north of Auckland, apart from the Bay of Islands...which are not even on the beautiful west coast of northland that I am so proud of...but I digress...)

We left Wellington early in the morning.Driving up to the kapiti coast we passed through several tunnels.(tunnels do not make for good photos so you will have to take my word for these.All of that is wrapped in family memories,trips on trains to Johnsonville,Khandallah, to the city with my cousins,Mary and Joan.Sadly I haven't seen Mary for years and she was not able to make it to her mother's funeral. Well wherever you are Mary I wish you joy and happiness and some amazing views. You were an important part of my childhood and I hope that goodness follows you and surrounds you.

Back to our trip. Because the train only stopped at  six stations(including Wellington and Auckland) we were fortunate to have Duncan narrating for most of the journey. The train was in the process of refurbishment and they planned to have taped commentary happening soon. Personally I think we were lucky to have Duncan as he spoke with humor and personalized what could have ended up as "just another travel log"

The trip started cool with a promise of cooler to come!Everywhere was green and lush and familiar New zealand countryside and farm houses sped by.

            

 "The long train moves: we move in it along.

Like an old ballad, or an endless song,

It drones and wimbles its unwearied croon—

Croons, drones, and mumbles all the afternoon."

As well as fully air-conditioned(think heated) carriages, at the rear of the train was a wonderful surprise:the viewing coach, which was completely open to all weather experiences and great photographic opportunities.

Here is ds again in the viewing coach. He spent most of the 10 hours there, finding and making friends and coming in to sit with us only when hunger or thirst needed another response.

As I said earlier ...it got colder!

"Faster than fairies, faster than witches, 
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches, 
And charging along like troops in a battle, 
All through the meadows the horses and cattle: 
All of the sights of the hill and the plain 
Fly as thick as driving rain; 
And ever again in the wink of an eye, 
Painted stations whistle by."

heading in to National Park, the vegetation changed

And getting closer we saw a ...

Along the way, we saw fantastic views of New Zealand farmland, rugged bush landscapes before ascending up the world famous Raurimu Spiral to the volcanic plateau passing the majestic volcanoes of Mt Tongariro, Mt Ngauruhoe and Mt Ruapehu.

"In the final push to close the gap in the North Island main trunk line, the railway had reached Taumarunui by 1904. To the south lay the imposing ascent onto the Waimarino plateau. After much difficulty, civil engineer Robert Holmes came up with a remarkable answer. He designed the Raurimu spiral, which included two tunnels, three horseshoe curves and a complete circle."

Coming into the Waikato district the scenery changes

poor photo but it shows the small volcanic hills visible in this terrain.

And so in a single day we travelled past every kind of scenery there is, from coastline to volcanoes to mountains, from lush green farmland to thick New Zealand bush. an epic 681 kilometre (423 mile) journey!

a sunny afternoon and a cool evening

After a quick bus trip into Dunedin we spent a very pleasant afternoon with Mel.Although it was very cold(but we had brought our thermals with us!), the afternoon sun shone on the time we shared together.                                            
               


Of course I might be slightly biased but don't I have such a beautiful, clever  daughter. The scarf she is wearing is one she knitted and I am also sharing in this post some wonderful knits she has made for the children of friends of hers.

 The picture below would have to be one of my favorites of our time in Dunedin!

 

In the evening we took the last pictures with my phone as the camera was once again playing up. The frost from the morning was still attached to blades of grass and the ice covering all the puddles was, you guessed it, still visible!

I like Dunedin . It reminds me of a smaller  Wellington

Christchurch to Dunedin

We arrived in Christchurch at 5am local time, having left Melbourne at 1/4 to midnight! Spent an hour at a very quiet airport before taking a taxi to the bus depot(which turned out to be a small temporary building.  Driving from the airport in to Christchurch we saw evidence of devastation. Many larger buildings (such as churches) had steel scaffolding supporting the and there were private residences half-demolished or boarded up and vacant. After a while L. declined to look out of the window.It was a cold grey morning.

The top picture is the only one I could take with my camera of an amazing bus journey.The next three pictures I found on the internet but they demonstrate the amazing scenery we saw.For most of the journey the southern alps, with their white snowy hats were in view.The land between them and us was fairly flat farming land so we were able to get a good view of them.

We were on a standard intercity bus(think really cheap rates) but the driver managed to give us a running commentary of most places we passed through

The picture above shows Oamaru which is known for its distinctive limestone buildings.Because I am a New Zealander and because I think the land of my birth has some spectacular scenery I hope you won't be offended if I don't describe Oamaru as a pretty place(big hint). However in an op shop just beside where we stopped for lunch I found a book I have been looking for to give to a new mum( a golden book called "The Boy with a Drum") 

More beautiful scenery and we arrived in Dunedin shortly after 1pm. We took a taxi out to Ashburne and met Mel.L. was so impressed that first day to see snow. And that explains the final picture.Now you may say where is the snow in the picture(please note small white dots..smaller ones did not show up in photo)but it is I discovered extremely hard to photograph falling snow; far better to capture the memory ie enjoy the moment!